Celebrating 'Slow Travel': Student membership prizewinner shares his European adventure

An Taisce believes in the power of the student movement. 

However, making environmentally sustainable travel choices can prove to be more challenging and expensive, especially on a student budget. To support ‘Slow Travel for Students’ last year, An Taisce ran a special student membership prize draw event with free Eurail passes. 

The lucky winners have been sharing their travel adventures with us.

An Taisce congratulates all the fantastic winners and participants in An Taisce’s Student Membership Big Slow Travel Draw.  

How it worked: During the term of last year’s student membership promotion, each new sign up was entered into the draw. The lucky 15 prize-winners chosen from 10 participating universities/colleges across Ireland received two free Eurail sponsored passes allowing them to travel by train with a friend across Europe.  

As a member of An Taisce, they were also entitled to free access to any of the International National Trust Properties (INTO) as part of a reciprocal agreement between INTO and An Taisce, Ireland's National Trust.  

Ensuring An Taisce membership includes representation from every age group is vitally important.  

Thanks so much to Adam Ó Ceallaigh who has shared his travel journey and photographs with us. His travel story is below. 

Last summer, I embarked on a journey across Europe that I will remember for the rest of my life. Thanks to the generous support of An Taisce, I was able to travel sustainably, avoiding flights and instead exploring the continent by rail and ferry. As a recent university graduate who cares deeply about the environment, I’m increasingly aware of the impact flying has on our climate. That’s why I chose to embrace "slow travel," and I can honestly say it was one of the most enriching experiences I've ever had. 

My adventure began with a ferry trip from Rosslare to Bilbao, a refreshing way to start a journey with purpose. Leaving Rosslare at midnight on Friday I spent two luxurious nights on the ferry which had games, live music, restaurants, and bars galore. I arrived into Bilbao on Sunday morning at 8am and spent the morning in the Guggenheim checking out some of Richard Serras artwork before hoping on a flixbus north to Biarritz in France. 

From there I quickly traveled through France, Switzerland, Germany, before heading north into Denmark and the Nordic countries. It quickly became clear that traveling by rail allows you to see so much more of a country than just its major cities. I was able to stop in places off the beaten track such as Kandersteg in Switzerland and Morlaix in France. As well as that I did check out cities full of history, like Dresden and Nuremberg, and world-famous capitals, Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris. 

Continuing north, I crossed the sea by ferry to Bergen, Norway, and then took what is famously one of Europes most picturesque railway journeys from Bergen to Oslo through the mountains and past glaciers. Bergen was a special little town with a great spot called the Brian Boru a local Irish Pub which is owned and run by Irish people. I ended up meeting someone from twenty minutes down the road from me there and got an invite to a Norwegian dinner party. Bergen was my favourite place of the whole trip. 

After exploring Scandinavia, I made my way south again back to Paris and down to the south coast where I explored Nice and Toulon. From Toulon I took a ferry to Ajaccio in Corsica and then back up to Italy before returning to Ireland through Switzerland and a return ferry to Cork from Roscoff. 

This trip reinforced to me the many benefits of slow travel. Not only does it reduce your carbon footprint, but it also gives you the chance to savor each moment and enjoy unexpected encounters. 

I’m incredibly grateful to An Taisce and Eurail for their support through their free Interrail tickets. Their commitment to promoting sustainable travel made this amazing experience possible, and I’m so thankful for the chance to explore Europe in a way that aligned with my values. 

If you’re thinking of seeing Europe, I can’t recommend slow travel enough. You’ll see more, learn more, and return home with a deeper appreciation for the world around us. 

Thank you, An Taisce, for supporting this unforgettable adventure! 

Congratulations to all our lucky winners: 

• Isabel McDermott, Trinity College Dubin 

• Caoimhe Crowe, Marino Institute 

• Aoife Supple, TU Dublin 

• Alethea Quirke, Trinity College Dubin 

• Jodi Gibbons, The National College of Ireland 

• Ipa Murphy, TU Dublin 

• Grainne Condron, Trinity College Dubin 

• Caoilfhionn Callery, Trinity College Dublin 

• Adam O'Ceallaigh, Trinity College Dubin 

• Sophie Mathews, University Limerick 

• Caoimhe Halligan, SETU Waterford 

• Daire McNickle, Maynooth University 

• Lisa Carew, GMIT  

• Niamh Whelan, UCD 

• Emer Ruddin, UCD 

Sign up to An Taisce membership and avail of all of our wonderful benefits while knowing you are part of a movement that is protecting Ireland's built heritage and natural environment.  

To join: visit membership.antaisce.org  

For more information, email: [email protected]